Gwyneth Paltrow Lets Her Kids Call Grandma by Unusual Name

Gwyneth Paltrow, Blythe Danner & Apple MartinApart from the fact that we both have two children (older girl, younger boy), a weakness for hot musicians, and an obsession with pricey cosmetics (she can afford them, I can't), Gwyneth Paltrow and I don't exactly live parallel lives. But apparently there is one quirky -- and in my opinion, super cute -- tradition of sorts that both of our families share.

Our kids call their grandmothers by names they made up themselves -- before they really even learned to talk! Neither my mom nor Paltrow's eternally elegant mother, Blythe Danner, has ever been called "Grandma" or "Gran" or "Nana" ...

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According to Danner, she was christened Lalo (lah-lo) by her first grandchild, Apple Martin, who was seated in a highchair at the time.

Danner and Apple were having one of those classic conversations we all have with barely-talking babies, when we ask them to identify objects and people around them: Who's that? Is that Mommy? What's that? Is that your sippy cup? and so on.

Basically, the story of how my daughter Charlotte named my mother is identical, except for the moniker she came up with: Maga (mah-gah).

Ten years later, Charlotte and her little brother Julianstill call their grandmother Maga.

I wouldn't have it any other way. It's cute, and unique, and doesn't automatically evoke the matronly gray-haired stereotype, which my mother is not and never wants to be. Plus, I named my grandmother in exactly the same fashion when I was a toddler: Biku (bye-koo).

And Biku she was to our entire family for the next 34 years, until the day she passed away.